After a hard day's labor in a parish workhouse for children, a nine-year-old orphan named Oliver asks for a second serving of gruel. The workhouse master, annoyed by Oliver's impertinence, sells him into an apprenticeship with a drunken undertaker and his abusive wife. Fearing for his life, the boy escapes to London, where he falls in with the Artful Dodger and a band of juvenile pickpockets led by the criminal Fagin. Oliver discovers heroes and villains in all manner of strange places as he learns how to survive and thrive on the streets of the city. Including such favorite songs as "Food, Glorious Food," "Consider Yourself," and "You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two," Lionel Bart's adaptation of Charles Dickens' social satire of 19th-century London remains a cherished musical for all ages.
Brecht and Weill's The Threepenny Opera (l'Opera de Quat'Sous in French) is one of those works that became the hallmark of its era. Its sound, its look, and its cynicism are pure Weimar. However, during the 1928 Berlin premiere, early songs such as 'The Ballad of Mac The Knife' and 'Pirate Jenny' landed with a shrug, and it wasn't until the 'Canon Song,' halfway through the first act, that the audience became engaged. All of this to say that The Threepenny Opera is a complicated play whose virtues might not be immediately evident to the uninitiated. The production at Avignon's Opera Confluence, as directed by Jean Lacornerie, comes in at a swift two hours without intermission. While crammed onto an over-packed stage and breathlessly paced, Lacornerie still manages to keep the action moving with style.
Michael J. LaChiusa (music, lyrics and book) and George C. Wolfe's (book) musical interpretation of Joseph Moncure March's once scandalous 1928 poem THE WILD PARTY is an escapist night of deliciously dark debauchery. The latest production from Little Triangle Theatre is a feast for the senses with fabulous music combining with brilliant choreography and creative costuming.
The Stratford Festival lost one of its pioneers today. Douglas Rain died of natural causes early this morning at the age of 90 at St. Marys Memorial Hospital, just outside of Stratford, Ontario, the city in which he established his career, becoming one of the world's great classical actors.
Rarely produced in full, Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre (MET) presents the entirety of Horton Foote's nine-act Magnus Opus “The Orphans' Home Cycle” running in repertory through November 18, 2018. This massive production utilizes over 30 veteran performers from across the Metro KC area in 64 roles throughout the expansive production.
The Resident Acting Company, a new troupe drawn from the performing ensemble of The Pearl Theatre Company, will present a staged reading of 'The Belle's Strategem' by Hannah Cowley on Monday, October 29 at 7:00 PM at The Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park South. The reading is the second installment of the troupe's 'The Language Series,' which is devoted to plays that delve into the use of words to lie, deceive, manipulate, conquer, tell the truth, work out the meaning of life and even to find love.
Marius (Justin Mouledous) begs Eponine
(Emma Pollet) for help finding Cosette
'Life-changing,' 'Engaging,' 'Rewarding,' 'Surreal,' 'Exciting,' 'Humbling,' 'Wonderful,' 'Extraordinary,' and 'A Blast and a Half' are just a few of the ways this extraordinary, young cast is encapsulating what it is like to be a part of The New Octavians production of the epic, grand, and uplifting, Les Miserables School Edition-The show that packs an emotional wallop that has thrilled over 65 million people worldwide. Winner of over 100 international awards, Les Miserables is an epic and inspiring story about the survival of the human spirit. The musical, based on Victor Hugo's novel, adapted for high school performers, features one of the most memorable scores of all time and some of the most memorable characters to ever grace the stage. This cast of nearly fifty students, hailing from twelve different schools from the Northshore area of the New Orleans Metropolitan area, is certainly fulfilling expectations. It is always a challenge to produce a show of this magnitude, but for Director, Brent Goodrich, being able to recruit talent from all over our community has made this production not only possible, but even more sensational.
Prepare for an illuminating journey when The Psychedelic Film and Music Festival holds its inaugural event featuring a lineup of science fiction, horror, fantasy, surrealist and virtual reality films, music and stage performances and panel discussions set to explore the altered states of consciousness and truth behind the vibrant and enduring psychedelic culture. The week-long gathering will feature musical performances by Simon Boswell with The AND, Psychic Ills, Heaven, Michael Tapper, Roosevelt Island and Nosh alongside appearances by researchers Dr. Dennis McKenna, Robert Barnhart and other special guests notable for breakthroughs in the psychedelic community. Premiering at venues in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, the festival will run October 1-7, 2018.
Michael Feinstein and the Pasadena POPS close out their popular outdoor summer concert series at the Los Angeles County Arboretum on Saturday, September 8 with Broadway Goes to the Movies. The POPS season finale will provide a quintessential Feinstein experience with some of Broadway's greatest performers recreating songs from hit shows that traveled from 42nd St. to Hollywood. "This program is going to celebrate all the different musical aspects of Broadway and Hollywood," says Feinstein, who has put together a program spanning the Broadway canon from My Fair Lady to The Sound of Music to Jersey Boys. Highlights include "The Impossible Dream," "Can't Take My Eyes off of You," and "There's No Business Like Show Business," among many other beloved showtunes.
In 1928, George Gershwin composed 'An American in Paris' inspired by the time he spent there. It wasn't until 1951 that An American in Paris hit the movie screen starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron as directed by Vincente Minnelli.
The classic Musical 'Mame' opened the 2018 season last night at NSMT. The Musical by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, with Lyrics by Jerry Herman, and based on the book by Patrick Dennis, is a 1966 Musical Theatre warhorse that has starred such luminaries as, Rosalind Russell, Angela Landsbury, and even Lucille Ball, in the ill-fated 1970's movie.
Principal Pops Conductor Michael Feinstein opens the 2018 Pasadena POPS Sierra Summer Concert Series on Saturday, June 23rd with That's Entertainment: Gershwin to Sondheim. The POPS season opener will cover the gamut of the Great American Songbook from jazz standards to Broadway hits, and vintage charts that can't be heard anywhere else. Hear your Broadway favorites from Porgy and Bess and An American in Paris to Company and Follies, plus popular standards and vintage archival surprises with Nice Work if You Can Get It, S'Wonderful, and Being Alive just to name a few.
Alex Groth, Riley Walker and Chris Loving are three names to watch in this marvelous production.
Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer and Managing Director Maggie Boland announce the full lineup for Signature Theatre's 2018/19 season.
Working intimately with directors like Yasujiro Ozu, Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and Kon Ichikawa on some of their most important films, Kazuo Miyagawa (1908-99) pushed Japanese cinema to its highest artistic peaks through his lyrical, innovative, and technically flawless camerawork. Considered the greatest cinematographer of postwar Japanese cinema whose career endured through the 1990s, Miyagawa has influenced generations of leading filmmakers around the world.
March line-up of Overture Presents and community programs provide engagement, entertainment and educational opportunities for all ages.
The selection of The Threepenny Opera to inaugurate Street's 2018 season is one of the year's most eagerly anticipated theatrical events in Music City - thanks in part to the fact that it may well be the first home-grown staging of Brecht and Weill's parody of operetta that, in turn, skewers capitalistic society while touting socialist, even Troskyite, values in the guise of a rather farcical music hall diversion. Does it succeed? The answer is 'yes,' perhaps even an emphatic 'YES!' although one must pay close attention to the lyrics for the punch of the political set amidst a story that, on the surface, seems somewhat apolitical in tone, style and nature.
Overture Presents and free/low-cost programs continue in February with a variety of artistic experiences, from movement/dance, to music, to silent film.
The 70th anniversary season of the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence will present an incomparable collection of artists from around the globe in six major opera productions; recitals, chamber music and orchestral concerts from July 4 through 24; plus multiple events from the Acad mie du Festival d'Aix in June and July. This double anniversary season - the Festival's 70th and the Academy's 20th - also celebrates the conclusion of Bernard Foccroulle's eleven-year tenure as general manager of the Festival. His legacy will be on display in the 2018 season with commissions, new productions, major participatory events, and significantly broader outreach to Arab and local audiences. Foccroulle will be succeeded by Park Avenue Armory artistic director and Dutch National Opera director Pierre Audi in September 2018.
Town Stages Announces An Industry Reading Of The New Musical THE COLLINS BOY by Brad Bass and Cari Joy on Sunday, January 14, 2018 at Town Stages, 221 West Broadway, NYC. The Collins Boy is a new musical by Brad Bass and Cari Joy based on real-life events surrounding Christine Collins, her son Walter, and the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders of Los Angeles in 1928.
Town Stages announces an industry reading of the new musical The Collins Boy by Brad Bass and Cari Kassel on Sunday, January 14, 2018 at Town Stages, 221 West Broadway, NYC. The Collins Boy is a new musical by Brad Bass and Cari Joy based on real-life events surrounding Christine Collins, her son Walter, and the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders of Los Angeles in 1928.
Joshua Weilerstein will conduct the New York Philharmonic in a French program spotlighting Ravel. The program he will lead, in which he is replacing Charles Dutoit (who withdrew from the performances), remains unchanged: the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, with Jean-Yves Thibaudet as soloist; Le Tombeau de Couperin; Valses nobles et sentimentales; Bol ro; and Ravel's orchestration of Debussy's Sarabande et Danse, Wednesday, January 17, 2018, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, January 18 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, January 19 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, January 20 at 8:00 p.m.
The 70th anniversary season of the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence will present six full-scale opera productions and an international roster of exceptional artistry from July 4 through 24, 2018. The anniversary season also marks a milestone, as it celebrates the conclusion of Bernard Foccroulle's eleven-year tenure as general manager of the Festival. His legacy will be demonstrated in the coming season with commissions, new productions, major participatory events, and significant outreach to Arab, Mediterranean, and local audiences. Foccroulle will be succeeded by Park Avenue Armory artistic director and Dutch National Opera director Pierre Audi in September, 2018.
Charles Dutoit will conduct the New York Philharmonic in a French program spotlighting Ravel, featuring the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, with Jean-Yves Thibaudet as soloist; Le Tombeau de Couperin; Valses nobles et sentimentales; Bol ro; and Ravel's orchestration of Debussy's Sarabande et Danse, Wednesday, January 17, 2018, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, January 18 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, January 19 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, January 20 at 8:00 p.m.
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